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Monday, May 15, 2017

Shatter by Nikki Trionfo {Review}

Shatter by Nikki Trionfo
Published May 9th 2017 by Sweetwater Books

When a mysterious explosion kills her sister, Salem Jefferson becomes convinced the death was no accident—it was a conspiracy. But no one else at her high school believes her, and all she has so far is one clue. She knows Carrie hired a gang member to protect orchard workers. Problem is, Salem doesn't know who.

To find out, Salem pursues the gang-bangers who rule her town, especially classmate Cordero. As her distrust of Cordero heats up, so do the number of suspects in Carrie's death. Teachers and school officers are orchard owners. They have every reason to stop farm workers from demanding higher wages. With Carrie's killers still out there, Salem's not sure who she can trust. Meanwhile, the people who live on orchards and the people who pick them are drawing lines in the sand.

The only way for Salem to learn the truth is to slip behind those enemy lines.

*****Shatter hit two #1 categories right after release, one in print and one in ebook. For Teen > Mystery> Law & Crime (plus a detective one and one about violence).*****

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My Review: 4 Stars

Salem's older sister, Carrie, recently died and Salem is sure it was no accident. As she tries to piece together the secrets surrounding the events over the last few months, more mysteries seem to pop up. There are issues and situations that I am sure occur, but I wasn't aware of. This town has a lot of farms who need workers to help make them successful and many of the workers are illegal immigrants. Strikes are fueling the fiery feelings and two local gangs seem to be involved.

I love a good murder mystery and this one had me squirming. The author does a great job of telling the story through present time and filling in the gaps through flashbacks. As the book progresses, multiple suspects emerge and left me wondering who, why, and how. I haven't given much thought to gangs, aside from thinking (probably unjustly) that most members are the violent type who thrive on crime. After reading this, my thought have shifted. I also never thought about how unfairly some workers may be treated and how these can be big issues in certain parts of the world. Not only was I entertained, but I was educated.

Salem is strong and persistent. As she searches for answers, her doubts and fears bleed through her strength, making her easy to like. The suspense and pacing gripped me from the start and I was almost as desperate as Salem was, by the end, to solve this case. Full of intrigue, prejudice, fear, love, and mystery, Shatter caught me from start to finish.

Content: murder/fighting (nothing graphic); mild romance.

*I received a copy through the publisher, which did not affect my opinion. All thoughts are my own.*

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About the Author:

Nikki is a published short-story author and serve as the social coordinator of the LDStorymakers conference and chair of Storymakers Tribe. Shatter won the grand prize for all categories in the LDStorymakers’ First Chapter Contest and first place in the League of Utah Writers’ YA manuscript category. Nikki works in online marketing and, as a start to building a readership-platform, hosts a writing webinar channel with over a thousand views on YouTube under the name Fifty First Chapters.